Flags of Convenience:
The largest shipping registries are Panama, Liberia, Greece, Marshall Islands and the Bahamas,
Approximately 6,300 sail under the Panamanian flag, making Panama the largest. The Greek-controlled fleet is at almost 90 million gross tons.
The Marshall Islands is fourth with 1, 500 vessels and 37 million tons. Bahamas has 1,500 vessels at 27 million tons.
Other significant flags include Cyprus and Malta

Popular Posts

31.12.09

ARCTIC SEA arrived at KOTKA Finland, 30 December 2009 18:00. "At this point, there is, fortunately, no need to file an insurance claim because we still do not know where the ship and its crew are located," Vladimir Voronov said in September, without disclosing the amount the vessel was insured for. "The Arctic Sea is primarily owned by a Malta-based company, Arctic Sea Ltd. which is owned by Oy White Sea Ltd. According to the Finnish Trade Registry, Victor Matveev (Viktor Matvejev), a Russian citizen living in Finland holds 70 per cent of Oy White Sea Ltd’s shares. The rest are owned by two other Russian men living in Finland. The rest of the ship may well by owned by Solchart Askhangelsk Ltd of Finland, since it claims ownership of the ship in an article by Cristina Batog, a graduate of Georgetown University, specializing in Russia and Eastern Europe quoting director and assistant director Nikolai Karpenkov and Ivan Boiko in Askhangelsk, Russia.

30.12.09

Navios Maritime Holdings Inc. announced the sale to Navios Maritime Partners L.P on 10/28/2009. Navios Holdings intends to use the proceeds from the sale of this vessel for operating purposes, such as repayment of indebtedness or reinvestment in vessels. The buzz expects the company to negotiate a safe release of the vessel and crew and for any damages and losses to be covered by insurance. Navios Maritime Holdings Inc. agreed to sell the now hijacked Panama-flag Navios Apollon, a 2000 built Ultra-Handymax vessel with a capacity of 52,073 dwt to Navios Maritime Partners L.P. for $32.0 million in cash. Navios Apollon has been chartered out at a net rate of $23,700 per day for the remaining period of three years expiring in November 2012. Was The vessel delivered to Navios Partners at the time of its Annual General Meeting, Dec 16, 2009?

29.12.09

NAVIOS Maritime Holdings has confirmed that its 52,068 dwt bulk carrier Navios Apollon was attacked 800 miles off the coast of Somalia on Monday.Navios in Greece lost contact with the Panamanian-flagged vessel, owned by Navios Maritime Partners, and the last contact from the ship was a report that armed men were boarding the vessel.

28.12.09

Finnish investigators are due back from Russia where they went to interview the alleged hijackers of the Arctic Sea, a vessel thought to have been caught illegally transporting AA missiles to Iran on that voyage. Meanwhile, the vessel is again approaching the scene of that incident. Finnish investigators have been cooperating in the probe along with Malta and Sweden.

22.12.09

Two members of the Finnish National Bureau of Investigation (KRP) traveled to Russia on December 16 to conduct an investigation into the hijacking of the Arctic Sea ship. They were to question suspects and meet with Russian investigators. They planned to return to Finland on December 18. The vessel in question last turned on its AIS transponder to enter Setubal Portugal and then again on December 21 to depart, headed North. At 2009-12-22 05:36, the vessel's destination was changed (back)to KOTKA, Finland.

16.12.09

Finnish investigators are travelling to Russia on December 16 to conduct an investigation into the hijacking of the Arctic Sea ship. Accordingly, the stated destination of the phantom vessel was changed at 2009-12-16 21:22 to read "Underground." Previously, the destination had read 2009-12-21 08:00 Kotka [Finland]. The vessel last turned on its AIS transponder to enter Setubal Portugal.

Rabbe von Hertzen, who is heading up the investigation, says two members of the National Bureau of Investigation (KRP) are to question suspects and meet with Russian investigators. They are to return to Finland on December 18.

Von Hertzen says the trip is necessary because the suspects are being held in Russia.

The Arctic Sea was seized by a group of hijackers in Swedish waters in the Baltic Sea in July. The vessel was carrying a load of lumber from Finland to Algeria. The Russian Navy regained control of the ship off Africa’s west coast in August.

15.12.09

A lawyer working on the case of the hijacked ship Arctic Sea has been found after going missing for several days. Yelena Romanova-Lebedeva's disappearance was reported to police after she was not seen nor heard from since leaving her Moscow office on December 9.

On December 13, Natalya Volkova, also a lawyer,said Romanova-Lebedeva had been away for professional reasons and had not been kidnapped."Yelena Romanova-Lebedeva is in Moscow. Her absence was connected to her professional activities," Volkova said.

The Arctic Sea last used its AIS transponder entering Setubal, Portugal.

9.12.09

The Maltese-flagged vessel suspected by some of carrying AA Russian missiles destined for Iran, intercepted by the Russian Navy, and released, in time, and freshly painted, at Malta free of any trace of such cargo, is now off Palma , the major city and port on the island of Majorca. While Russian reports stated The Arctic Sea cargo vessel is unloading its cargo of timber in the Algerian port of Bejaia under close scrutiny by the country's national security officials, such arrival and departure information has not been found in the usual web sites. Also from Russian reports: Russian courts decide not to hand the case to investigators in Malta or Sweden.

5.12.09

The ultimate interest in the maltese-flag Ariana IMO 8014150 has been in liquidation since 2008 due the subprime mortgage crisis, but the Logothetis family of Greece has picked up this fleet for a song -$325 million, thus making a release more likely.The Logothetis family of Greece has re-entered the shipping sector with a big splash as Lomar Corporation announced a $325m purchase of the UK based Allocean fleet.According to the announcement, the $325m deal involves the purchase of the shares of Allocean Ltd and the Allocean Charters group of companies, both subsidiaries of Allco Finance Group, which entered administration and receivership in November last year. Lomar, a subsidiary of the Libra Group, announced the acquisition of 26 modern ships today belonging to Allocean, ending days of speculation over the sale of the ships.

The acquisition brings Lomar’s total fleet size to 32 owned and managed vessels including three newbuildings currently on order. The purchase of Allocean represents a major re-entry into ship ownership for Lomar following its sale of 67 ships from 2004-2006.

According to the announcement, the $325m deal involves the purchase of the shares of Allocean Ltd and the Allocean Charters group of companies, both subsidiaries of Allco Finance Group, which entered administration and receivership in November last year. Alloceans Shipping Company Ltd (Greece)ALLOCEAN SHIPPING (UK) LIMITEDAllco Finance Ltd.Allco Finance Group LimitedShipping - Allco own or manage 38 shipping vessels with another 23 on order.

Allco is now in liquidation, after previously being in administrative receivership, following difficulties in refinancing debt and a share price fall of 99% since the beginning of the subprime mortgage crisis.

The small containership Charelle, hijacked on June 12 by Somali pirates near Oman in June, has been released. The ship was carrying mostly empty containers when it was seized. MV CHARELLE was been sea-jacked by eight pirates around 60 nautical miles south of Sur on the Omani coast. This was the first recorded attack in the waters of the Sultanate of Oman. The German company has as registered owner her subsidiary TARMSTEDT INTERNATIONAL LTD in Samoa (Apia) listed, while TRADEX MARINE LTD of New Zealand are the managers. The 1985 built vessel is insured with the Ship Owners' Mutual P&I Association of Luxembourg. The crew of the vessel is not covered by an ITF agreement.

The crew of 10 aboard the Antigua and Barbuda-flagged ship, including seven Sri Lankans and three Filipinos, were also freed. "It started sailing towards safe waters around an hour ago. The gunmen have left it to the crew. A ransom was paid out.

3.12.09

Mario Carniglia, head of the international freight-forwarding firm Otim, said his firm did not know the contents of the cargo shipped on the ANL Australia. [10 Containers with 2,030 detonators for 122mm rockets, as well as electric circuitry and a large quantity of solid-fuel propellant] He said North Korea provided documents identifying the content as “Oil Pumping Equipment.” “We couldn’t see the contents as the containers were sealed when shipped from Nampo,” he said in the interview conducted in Italian. He refused to identify the exporter in North Korea, citing business ethics. OTIM - Organizzazione Trasporti Internazionali e Marittimi SpA. was first Italian company to open an office in the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (North Korea).

ANL Container Line Pty. Ltd and ANL Singapore Pty. Ltd are subsidiaries of the world's third-largest container shipping company CMA CGM S.A. The company, which has JP Morgan as a financial adviser on the restructuring, says auditors have raised doubts [3 December] about the company's ability to continue as a going concern if it fails to reach agreement with its lenders over a restructuring of its $5.2 billion debt. The Marseilles, France, company, which was founded by Lebanon-born Jacques Saade in 1978 and employs 17,000 people worldwide, is in debt restructuring negotiations due to the effect of "severe market conditions" on the business.

2.12.09

On July 22, Inspectors from the United Arab Emirates, when alerted to possible contraband in a ship bound for Iran, arrested the boxship ANL AUSTRALIA IMO 8913681, Nominal Teus 2668. An official said.U.S. spies "played a key role" in tracking the shipment. According to shipping records, the 10 large cargo containers left the North Korean port of Nampo on May 30 on a North Korean vessel, and two days later they were transferred to a Chinese ship in the port city of Dalian, in northern China.

From there, the containers were ferried to Shanghai, where on June 13 they were moved to a third ship, the ANL Australia, a Bahamian-flagged containership.The nature of the cargo, seized in July and described now for the first time were 2,030 detonators for 122mm rockets, as well as electric circuitry and a large quantity of solid-fuel propellant, according to an account given by UAE and U.N. Security Council officials. The materials were bought from North Korea and shipped halfway around the globe in sealed containers, labeled as oil-drilling supplies, that passed through a succession of freighters and ports. According to shipping records, the 10 large cargo containers left the North Korean port of Nampo on May 30 on a North Korean vessel, and two days later they were transferred to a Chinese ship in the port city of Dalian, in northern China.

From there, the containers were ferried to Shanghai, where on June 13 they were moved to a third ship, the ANL Australia, a Bahamian-flagged boxship owned by ANL, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CMA CGM, a French consortium.